Geological-engineering and geotechnical issues concerning the function of the railway bridge across the Amgun' river operated by the Far Eastern Railway

The operation of transport structures in the Russian Far East is characterized by specific common features. The majority of engineering structures were built predominantly in the first half of the 20th century. Their construction employed simple technologies based on manual labor which often resulted in inferior quality of work. In addition, the factors that aggravate the operational reliability of the bridges are the severe climatic and complicated geological-engineering conditions of the regions under consideration. The authors have analyzed the results of monitoring the current status of the operating unclassified bridge structure and its geological environment. The analysis has shown major destructive geological-engineering factors that cause deformations and defects in the bridge supports and spans. The authors have provided a qualitative and quantitative forecast on the bridge operation performance taking consideration of the prospective increment in live load and railway traffic intensity. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.